February 11, 2025
Supporting you to meet the Accessible Information Standard
The Accessible Information Standard (AIS) has been a legal requirement for all organisations that provide NHS care, including general practice, since 2016. There is now a concerted effort across the BNSSG system to ensure all partners (NBT, UHBW, Sirona, local authorities) comply with the Standard in an effort to improve care for people with disabilities.
The AIS aims to ensure everyone can understand the information they need as part of their care. For some people, i.e. those with physical, sensory or cognitive impairments, this may require healthcare organisations to make some reasonable adjustments.
One Care’s AIS project can help your practice achieve compliance with the AIS. You can read our top tips below, download the AIS toolkit from TeamNet, and contact us for one-to-one bespoke support and staff training. The one-to-one support will take you through the practical steps needed to implement the AIS, and help you successfully integrate compliance into your existing practice processes.
There are five steps to the AIS. They are Identify, Record, Flag, Share, and Meet.
Here are some things you can do to help your practice implement these steps.
- Put posters up in your waiting room to encourage patients or their carers to let you know what reasonable adjustments they might need. You could also put a line on patient correspondence to let them know they can request information in alternative formats, such as braille or large print
- Use the Reasonable Adjustments Digital Flag and / or EMIS warnings to record patients’ information and communication needs, to ensure they’re visible to colleagues accessing their records
- When recording reasonable adjustments, focus on needs rather than conditions. For example, rather than “patient has macular degeneration” try “needs letters in large print” and specify the font size
- Ensure staff are aware of the AIS and your practice’s policies and procedures
- Log incidents where patients’ AIS needs are not met, e.g. as learning events
Remember, compliance with the AIS forms part of CQC inspections, under the key statement ‘providing information’. It’s therefore important to document what your practice is doing to meet the Standard.
If you would like more information, or one-to-one support with the AIS, please contact alasdair.wallace@onecare.org.uk
Supporting you to meet the Accessible Information Standard
